Bowling ball with rotatable finger grip



May 10, 1960 Robert R. Die/z INVEN TOR United States Patent .7 6 BOWLING BALL WITH ROTATABLE FINGER GRIP The present invention generally relates to novel structural arrangements in bowling balls and more particularly represents an improved construction over that shown in prior'Patent No. 2,393,026 issued January 15, 1946 for Bowling Ball in which I am co-inventor.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a bowling ball having a finger grip insert or adapter rotatably disposed within a socket in the bowling ball for relieving the strain on the fingers when the bowling ball is thrown so that the ball may be twisted as it is thrown for imparting directional control thereto with the insert or adapter being constructed in such a manner that it will be freely rotatable.

Other objects of the present invention will reside in its simplicity of construction, ease of assembly with bowling balls by using standard manufacturing procedures, effectiveness in operation and its relatively inexpensive manufacturing cost.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view through a bowling ball showing the finger grip insert disposed in a socket in the bowling ball;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the insert;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the spring ring for holding the insert in the bowling ball; and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 4-4 of Figure 3 illustrating the construction of the spring ring.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral generally designates the bowling ball of the present invention which is of spherical shape and constructed of conventional materials and provided with the usual thumb receiving socket or thumb hole 12 which extends radially towards the center of the bowling ball 10.

Disposed in spaced relation to the thumb hole 12 is an enlarged radially extending socket 14 having an inwardly tapering bottom shoulder 16 extending inwardly from the wall thereof and the bottom 16 is formed with an inwardly extending socket 18 which generally forms an extension of the socket 14 and is in communication therewith with the longitudinal axes thereof being coincidental. The bottom of the socket 18 is substantially semi-spherical in shape as designated by the numeral 20 whereby the sockets 14 and 18 receive a plug 22 of the same shape and size with the plug having an upper body portion 24, an extension 28 with a tapered or inclined shoulder interconnecting the sarne with the lower end of the extension 28 being substantially semispherical in shape as designated by the numeral 32. The enlarged body 24 of the plug 22 is provided with a pair of inclined fingerholes 34 for association with the thumb hole 12 for pemitting use of the bowling ball 10 in the usual manner. Also, the

2,936,177 Patented May 10, 1868 outer surface of the body 24 is for-med in a convex manner as indicated by numeral 36 which will form a continuation of the surface of the bowling ball 10.

The extension 28 of the plug 22 is provided with an inwardly extending annular groove 38 for receiving a split spring retaining ring 40 which is also received in a peripheral groove 42 in the socket extension 18. The upper surface of the spring retaining ring 40 is tapered or-inclined downwardly-and outwardly as indicated by numeral 44 and the depth of the groove 38 is suflicient to permit collapse of the spring 40 completely'within the confines of the extension 28 so that the plug 22 may be assembled into the bowling ball 10 and the spring ring 40 will then expand outwardly into the groove 42 for locking the plug 22 permanently in the ball 10. The upper inclined surface 44 of the spring ring 40 will engage the upper edge of the groove 42 which is disposed slightly below the groove 38 for urging the semi-spherical portion 32 of the extension 28 into engagement with the bottom 20 of the extension socket 18 thus forming a bearing area for easy rotation of the plug 22 and also preventing looseness of the plug 22 which eliminates any rattling or noisy conditions that may exist.

The specific orientation of the plug 22, the groove 38 therein, the groove 42 in the ball 10 and the retainer ring 40 is critical in that if the groove in the plug was lower than the groove in the ball, the plug would be jammedvagainst the bottom of the hole and either not turn at all or turn so hard as to make the ball valueless as the plug must turn freely and easily at all times for the proper manipuation of the ball. On the other hand, if the ring thickness was slightly larger, it will cause the same conditions and if slightly smaller, would permit an up and down movement of the plug and result in a noisy ball. This same condition would exist if the plug groove was slightly higher than the corresponding groove in the ball. In the present invention, groove 38 in the plug is made suiiiciently deep to permit the retaining ring to be completely collapsed into the same and to provide sutlicient area for permitting a retaining ring having a relatively *thick wall to be used. The groove 42 in the ball 10 will be ten thousandths of an inch lower than the groove 38 in the plug 22 and will have the top wall thereof provided with an upward slant to match the slant on the top surface 44 of the retaining ring 40. The bottom of the groove 42 will be one-thirty-second of an inch below the bottom of the groove 38 which will prevent damage to the retaining ring 40 should the outer surface of the plug 22 strike a bowling pin or any other solid object. When the retaining ring 40 is fitted into groove 38 it will spring open into the groove 42 when the splug is assembled in the bowling ball 10. Due to the slope on the top surface 44 of the ring 40, only a relatively small part of the ring will enter the groove 42. The constant outward pressure of retainer ring 40 combined with the slope will cause the rotating plug 22 to be constantly pressed to the bottom of the hole thereby eliminating any up and down movement and the resultant noise and it is pointed out that this pressure will not be sufiicient to bind the plug 22 in the body 10. The bottom 20 of the socket extension 18 and the bottom 32 of the plug extension 28 generally act as a ball and socket type of joint for permitting easy rotational movement of the plug which is extremely necessary for proper manipulation of the ball.

The new and improved bowling ball results in extremely smooth rotary movement of the plug and eliminates the cause of sore fingers while it allows more room for thumb and finger holes for permitting them to be drilled larger and longer if necessary. The present bowling ball also eliminates the noise of operation inherent in this type of construction and also produces a ball capable of construction, said member including van inwardly.extend ing blind bore for receiving a thumb, said member including an inwardly extending main socket having an .ex-

tension socket in the bottom thereof with the extension socket being'of less diameter than-the main socket, a

plug disposed in and completelyfilling the main socket by movement of theplug during. rolling movement of the spherical member, said spring ring means providing for rotational movement of the plug about its longitudinal axis, said plug including a finger receiving blind bore which in conjunction with the thumb receiving bore forms a grip for the bowling ball, said spring ring means including an annular split spring ring having an outwardly and downwardly inclined upper surface, said extension socket including a peripheral groove. in the peripheral wall, said plug including a peripheral groove on the outer surface thereof of a ra'dial'depth sufiicient to completelyreceive the spring.ring when collapsed for permitting insertion of the plug into the sockets, the inclined surface of the ring engaging the upper surface of the groove inthe extension socket thereby urging the plug inwardly during expansion of the split ring.

References'Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 746,576 Rice Dec. 8, 1903 2,393,026 "Dietz et a1 Jan. 15,1946 Campi July 12, 1949 

